Victory
by Pyrasaur
Summary: A little mood piece about a battle in SSBM. Just another day at the office, eh?


Victory  
  
The two combatants eyed each other warily, each waiting to see if the other would make a move. The battle between the king of Koopas and the small pink Pokémon had thus far been hard on both fighters. Jigglypuff's breath came in rapid squeaking gasps, the strain further showing by the various scrapes and smudges on her rose-coloured body. Bowser's tough hide was showing bruises in a few places, some slender cracks had formed around the edges of his shell and he too was breathing hard. The surrounding ruins of Hyrule Temple told the story of their pitched battle; the walls were peppered with scorch marks, and large chunks of stone had been flung about like shrapnel. Finally, the tense standoff was broken by Bowser.  
  
"You can always quit, you know." he told the Pokémon.  
Jigglypuff flicked her curl of hair out of her face, slightly narrowing her enormous teal eyes at her opponent.   
"Jiggly JigglyPUFF!" she huffed.  
Bowser certainly didn't need to understand the Pokémon dialect to know what she had said, and he really hadn't expected the feisty balloon-like creature to answer any differently. "Suit yourself." he growled, quickly closing the space between them with a few heavy stides and winding up for a slash with his claws. Jigglypuff responded by tossing her light little body into a cartwheel, effectively dodging the attack and bringing her right up to the massive Bowser. Catching him in the middle of his claw attack and off-balance, Jigglypuff landed a few light jabs to his midsection and then threw her weight into a Pound attack. The move packed a punch despite Jigglypuff's small size, and Bowser skidded backwards a few meters. His talons ground furrows into the temple's dilapidated stone and he slid to a halt in a feral crouching position. A quiet rumble wafted from the Koopa's throat. He began his next assault, taking a deep breath and launching a swift salvo of flames towards the Pokémon. Lacking the time to dodge this, Jigglypuff curled her paws to her elastic chest and concentrated her strength to produce a round bubble of pink energy around her form. Bowser's fire breath licked at this energy sphere, which flickered and gradually shrank as absorbed the attack. But as combatants pressed their moves, the searing flames got the better of the energy bubble; Jigglypuff's shield got too small to afford her protection and she was thrown back by a second of contact with the scorching heat.   
  
Bowser saw his chance, he charged the recovering Pokémon and landed two heavy blows with his broad hands. She bounced off a nearby pillar with a squeal of pain and surprise, rebounding to a halt some distance behind her turtle adversary. Shaking off the dizziness from her rough landing, the battered creampuff leaped into the air in time to avoid Bowser, who was again charging towards her. She inflated her rubbery body with gulps of air, seeming to dance as she flitted through the air and perched on a broken platform behind the Koopa king. And with her full lungs, Jigglypuff proceeded to unleash her most potent ability.  
"Jiiiiggly-y-puuuuff..." serenaded the fluffy Pokémon. The sweet tones of her voice invaded Bowser's head, making it churn with hazy colours. He succumbed to the intoxicating song and slumped to the ground in a tracelike state of half-sleep. Almost more cruel was the fact that he was still awake enough to watch Jigglypuff charge wicked-looking energy in and around herself, gathering it into a whirlwind of silvery sparks before launching herself at Bowser in a high-speed Rollout. Unable to evade, he was flung backwards into another stone pillar, which was split raggedly in half by the Koopa's sturdy spiked shell. Jigglypuff continued rolling for a moment because of her attack's momentum, which was unfortunate for her, because it allowed Bowser time to recover. She stopped revolving just in time to be snatched up in Bowser's claws. Jigglypuff's paws were pressed firmly to her sides in the huge turtle's powerful grasp; kicking and squirming weren't enough to free her.  
"This ends here." he snarled, holding out the terrified Pokémon and tossing her skyward with a forceful blow from his wickedly horned head. Jigglypuff rocketed away in a broad arc with a pained wail of her name, to disappear past the sharp cliff near the edge of the stage. Bowser threw his head back to let out a majestic and victorious roar.  
  
But was it a victory? The swishing sound of a fighter passing the force-field boundary had failed to reach his reptilian ears. Bowser lumbered over to the cliff edge and peered over. He noticed too late the small pink paws clinging to the rocky terrain; Jigglypuff pulled herself up onto the stage and seized Bowser by one of his studded arm bands. Sparing her opponent a wicked smile, she rolled onto her back, pulling Bowser with her and launching him off the stage with a sharp kick from her round pink feet. A satisfying swish echoed through the arena as the Koopa king exited the level boundary. Jigglypuff sighed happily and once more flicked her hair curl out of her eyes. Victory sure did taste sweet. 


End file.
